Kenichi Nakata left Saturday's game against Yokohama after a ball hit by Takehiro Ishikawa struck him near the right knee in the 8th inning with the bases loaded and one out. Nakata recovered and managed to get the force at home. He walked off the field for treatment and did not return. Koji Akiyama later told reporters the pitcher suffered a bruise. Source: Sports Hochi 6/14/2014 ... Nakata will most likely be taken off the active roster. Source: Sponichi 6/14/2014

Nippon Ham Fighters

Shohei Otani made an appearance as a pinch-hitter in the 7th and flied out to right. He told reporters his right calf was fine. Source: Daily Sports 6/14/2014

Ryoma Matsuda (right elbow) threw forty pitches to a standing catcher on Thursday. It was his third bullpen. Source: Nikkan Sports 6/12/2014

Tsuyoshi Nishioka took seventy-nine swings during batting practice at Naruohama on Wednesday (forty-one from the right side and thirty-eight from left) and hit four over the fence. Sanspo 6/12/2014 ... Yutaka Wada told reporters Nishioka might be ready to play in games before the end of June. Source: Sponichi 6/12/2014 ... Nishioka is scheduled to play in his first Ni-gun rehab game on Friday against Softbank. Source: Sanspo 6/12/2014

Hiroshima Carp

The Carp feel they no longer have to think about taking Kenta Maeda (left side) off the active roster after watching him during workouts on Wednesday. Source: Sponichi 6/12/2014 ... Maeda could get a start during the upcoming Rakuten series at Mazda Stadium that begins on the 18th. Source: Daily Sports 6/12/2014

Shota Dobayashi (right ring finger) could return to the active roster when the regular season resumes on June 27. Dobayashi was given the green light to use both hands to hit on Tuesday (6/10). He resumed soft-toss batting practice with both hands on Wednesday (6/11). Assuming no setbacks, he could join the Ni-gun team some time around the 20th. Source: Sports Hochi 6/12/2014 ... Dobayashi swung the bat at close to 100 percent on Wednesday. He could play in his first Ni-gun rehab game on the 24th. Source: Daily Sports 6/12/2014

Chunichi Dragons

Kazuki Yoshimi (right elbow, lower back) pitched in a Ni-gun rehab game against Hanshin on Wednesday. He pitched two shutout innings in relief and gave up two hits. His next Ni-gun outing will come on five days of rest against Softbank. Wednesday's game was Yoshimi's first game in forty-one days. With no other setbacks, he could join the active roster in early July. Source: Nikkan Sports 6/12/2014

Yokohama Bay Stars

Shoichi Ino tweaked his back during his start against the Orix Buffaloes on Wednesday. His next start could be pushed back to the 21st against Seibu at Yokohama if his back does not improve. Source: Sports Hochi 6/12/2014 ... Ino was examined at a hospital in Osaka. Nothing unusual was found. He is currently slated to make his next start as originally planned: the 18th against Lotte at Yokohama. Source: Sponichi 6/12/2014

Hirokazu Sawamura (right shoulder) started a Ni-gun game against Nippon Ham on Tuesday. He gave up a run on four hits over seven innings of work. He threw eighty-nine pitches and topped out at 150km/h. He is scheduled to make another Ni-gun start on the 17th against Seibu. Source: Sanspo 6/10/2014 ... The one run he allowed was on a solo home run by Ryo Ishikawa in the 2nd inning. Source: Nikkan Sports 6/10/2014

Hayato Sakamoto was left out of the starting line-up on Monday because he was having some problems with his right ankle. He did make it into the game as a pinch-hitter in the 6th because he can swing the bat, but has difficulty on defense. He is considered day-to-day. Source: Sports Hochi 6/10/2014

Dai-Kang Yoh was taken off the active roster on Tuesday because of a laceration he suffered during Monday's game against Chunichi. Eleven stitches were required to close the cut. He was reexamined at a hospital in Sapporo on Tuesday. The stitches are set to come out in ten days. He will resume workouts as soon as he is ready. Source: Sponichi 6/10/2014, Daily Sports 6/10/2014

Shohei Otani tossed a bullpen session on Monday for the first time after he sprained in left ankle. He told reporters the ankle was fine. He is still slated to start Wednesday's (6/11) game against the Yomiuri Giants. Source: Sanspo 6/10/2014 ... Otani threw fifty-one pitches in the bullpen on Monday. Source: Sports Hochi 6/10/2014

Tsuyoshi Nishioka took eighty-two swings during outdoor batting practice at Koshien on Saturday and hit three over the fence. Source: Sanspo 6/8/2014 ... Nishioka told reporters he wants to be at 100 percent when he returns to the active roster, but is okay to play Ni-gun games at seventy to eighty percent. He could be fairly close to playing in his first Ni-gun rehab game. Source: Sponichi 6/8/2014

Yakult Swallows

Tony Barnette (left knee) could join the Ichi-gun roster in time for the Nippon Ham series that begins on the 14th. Source: Sanspo 6/8/2014

Softbank Hawks

Kenta Imamiya banged his face against the ground as he made an impressive catch in the 7th inning. He leapt and managed to glove a drive off Hiroki Uemoto's bat. The ball bounced out of the glove, but he managed to re-catch it while falling forward, headfirst. He was taken off the field for treatment, but was able to return. Source: Sanspo 6/8/2014

Nippon Ham Fighters

Shohei Otani sprained his left ankle during a game against Hiroshima on the 4th. He is still scheduled to make his next start on Wednesday (June 11) against Yomiuri at Sapporo Dome. Since pitching is his top priority this season, Hideki Kuriyama may sit him as a position player to keep him off the ankle until his next start. Source: Nikkan Sports 6/8/2014, Sponichi 6/8/2014

Shinichiro Koyama (right shoulder) worked out at the Ni-gun facilities on Thursday. He recently resumed throwing off a mound after being shut down for about a month. Source: Nikkan Sports 6/5/2014

Seibu Lions

Hideto Asamura was taken off the active roster on Thursday with pain in his left knee. Masaru Misawa will be called up to take Asamura's spot on the roster. Source: Sponichi 6/5/2014

Nippon Ham Fighters

Shohei Otani was diagnosed with a mild sprain in his right ankle after he slid into home plate on close play in the 5th inning of Wednesday's game against the Hiroshima Carp. As of now, he is expected to make his next scheduled start on the 11th against Yomiuri. Source: Daily Sports 6/5/2014 ... Otani told reporters on Thursday that he felt no pain in his ankle. Source: Daily Sports 6/5/2014

Ginji (lower back) worked out at the Ni-gun facilities in Sendai on Wednesday. He resumed soft-toss batting practice a few days ago. There is still no timetable on when he will play his first rehab game. Source: Sponichi 6/4/2014

Seibu Lions

The Lions announced on Tuesday that tests conducted on Hideto Asamura's left knee on Monday did not reveal any problems. Source: Sanspo 6/4/2014 ... Asamura left Wednesday's game against Yokohama early because of pain in his left knee. He will most likely be taken off the active roster on Thursday. Source: Sanpso 6/4/2014

Softbank Hawks

Hayato Terahara (right knee) began his rehab at the Saitozaki facilities on Wednesday. His day included trunk strengthening exercises and getting treatment for the knee. He will require the use of crutches for about a week. His goal right now is to be ready to pitch during spring camp next year. Source: Sponichi 6/4/2014

Seiichi Uchikawa (right gluteus maximus) resumed soft-toss batting practice on Tuesday. He swung the bat at about eighty percent. He hopes to be running sprints before the end of the week. He would like to be ready on defense as well, but that may not be a top priority. Source: Nikkan Sports 6/4/2014

Toru Hosokawa was taken off the active roster on Wednesday after he fouled a ball off his left knee on Tuesday. He is currently unable to squat. Source: Sponichi 6/4/2014

Nippon Ham Fighters

Shohei Otani hurt his left ankle when he slid into home plate on a close play in the 5th inning of Wednesday's game against Hiroshima. He was removed from the game and the ankle was treated with ice. He was also examined by the team doctor and diagnosed with a mild sprain in a lateral ankle ligament. Source: official announcement

Atsunori Inaba (left knee) could play in his first Ni-gun rehab game during an upcoming three-game series against Yomiuri that begins on the 10th. He took thirty-nine swings during batting practice with the Ichi-gun team on Tuesday and hit three over the fence. Source: Nikkan Sports 6/4/2014

Tossed session since practice game against KIA was canceled due to rain. Sanspo 2/13/2014

Yuki Saito

Bullpen

2/13

64

Makoto Kaneko stood in the right-handed hitters batter's box beginning from the tenth pitch; tossed session since practice game against KIA was canceled due to rain. Sponichi 2/13/2014, Daily Sports 2/13/2014

Ten pitchers tossed bullpen sessions on Monday. Umpires called balls and strikes for all the pitchers except Shohei Otani. The coaches asked the umpires to skip Otani because they did not want him getting distracted by each call.

The opening day pitcher will most likely be Mitsuo Yoshikawa. The coaches were thinking of Yoshikawa early on, but did not want to make any assumptions about his condition until they had a chance to see him pitch. He tossed thirty-three pitches in the bullpen on Monday. Hideki Kuriyama was not necessarily impressed with the outing, but was pleased to see him heading in the right direction.

Former Yakult Shinya Miyamoto visited Nago camp on Monday. He checked on Sho Nakata during his visit. He feels Nakata should be fine with his conversion to third because he has a strong and accurate arm.